Jakarta's Christian governor sentenced to 2 years in prison for blasphemy against Islam

JAKARTA (Reuters) - As the panel of five judges delivered the verdict condemning Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama to two years in prison for blasphemy on Tuesday, they cited firebrand Islamist Habib Rizieq as a Koranic authority.

Imprisoned twice for inciting violence, the leader of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) had until recently occupied the fringe of Indonesian society, his followers regarded as thuggish vigilantes with a penchant for extremism and extortion.

His recognition by the court as a venerable Islamic theologian - and the court's verdict itself - highlights the rising influence of Islamist groups in Indonesia. It is the world's largest Muslim-majority country but one with a multi-religious constitution and a tradition of tolerance.

RELATED: Jakarta reacts to sentencing of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama

12PHOTOS

Jakarta reacts to Christian governor's sentencing

See Gallery

Jakarta reacts to Christian governor's sentencing

Indonesian supporters of Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama burn tyres outside the Cipinang prison where he is being imprisoned in Jakarta on May 9, 2017.
Jakarta's Christian governor was jailed for two years on May 9 after being found guilty of blasphemy, in a shock decision that has stoked concerns over rising religious intolerance in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation. / AFP PHOTO / ADEK BERRY (Photo credit should read ADEK BERRY/AFP/Getty Images)

Supporters of Jakarta's Christian governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known as Ahok, cry after he was sentenced following the guilty verdict in his blasphemy trial in Jakarta on May 9, 2017. REUTERS/Bay Ismoyo/Pool

Indonesian Muslims react after judges sentenced Jakarta's Christian governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known as Ahok, during the verdict in his blasphemy trial in Jakarta on May 9, 2017. REUTERS/Bay Ismoyo/Pool

Indonesian supporters of Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama hold a candlelight vigil outside the Cipinang prison in Jakarta on May 9, 2017.
Jakarta's Christian governor was jailed for two years on May 9 after being found guilty of blasphemy, in a shock decision that has stoked concerns over rising religious intolerance in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation. / AFP PHOTO / ADEK BERRY (Photo credit should read ADEK BERRY/AFP/Getty Images)

Supporters of Jakarta's governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama or better known as 'Ahok' protest outside the Jakarta Cipinang prison on May 9, 2017.
Jakarta's Christian governor was jailed for two years after being found guilty of blasphemy, in a shock decision that has stoked concerns over rising religious intolerance in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation. / AFP PHOTO / GOH CHAI HIN (Photo credit should read GOH CHAI HIN/AFP/Getty Images)

Up Next

See Gallery

Discover More Like This

HIDE CAPTION

SHOW CAPTION

of

SEE ALL

BACK TO SLIDE

The verdict, say critics, has also given a quasi-legal endorsement to a rigid interpretation of the Koran that could encourage the materialization of Indonesia's religious minorities.

However, President Joko Widodo - a moderate reformer and an ally of Purnama - has publicly played down concerns about rising Islamic intolerance in Indonesia. After Tuesday's sentencing, he urged Indonesians to respect the legal process, noting that Purnama will appeal.

As he geared for an election to win another term as governor of the Indonesian capital last year, Purnama told a group of fisherfolk that his rivals were deceiving people by using a verse in the Koran to say that Muslims should not be led by a non-Muslim.

That comment triggered mass demonstrations, which were spearheaded by the FPI, and the blasphemy case against the ethnic Chinese and Christian governor.

VOTING FOR NON-MUSLIM

Rizieq was mentioned among several witnesses as the judges dissected the contentious verse in the Koranic chapter known as Al Maidah. The court endorsed his interpretation that it forbids Muslims voting for non-Muslims. Purnama had "deliberately" and "convincingly" blasphemed, the judges found.

"Rizieq is not qualified as an expert," said Todung Mulya Lubis, a leading Indonesian lawyer and rights advocate. "I was so shocked listening to that."

Rizieq had been a prosecution witness, but the prosecutors had asked only for a suspended sentence on the lesser charge of insulting language. In the end, the judges went for a jail term under the more serious charge of blasphemy.

"The judges did not really take into account what was submitted from the defense team," said Lubis, noting many senior clerics had sided with Purnama.

While Purnama repeatedly apologized for any hurt caused to Muslims, one judge, Abdul Rosyad, said the sentence was warranted because "the defendant didn't feel guilt".

Purnama was immediately taken to a detention facility in Jakarta after the sentencing. He had been due to hand over the governor's post in October.

"VICTORY FOR HARDLINERS"

Purnama, known by his nickname Ahok, was widely admired as governor of Jakarta for his no-nonsense style and programs to fix the Indonesian capital's traffic-clogged and flood-prone streets.

He had held a double-digit in opinion polls over his electoral rivals until an edited video of his comments on the Koranic verse was distributed by Islamist groups last September. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims then joined rallies to demand his imprisonment. On April 19, he was defeated by a Muslim candidate in a run-off vote for the governorship.

RELATED: China's crack down in response to Islamist extremists

37PHOTOS

China's crack down in response to Islamist extremists

See Gallery

China's crack down in response to Islamist extremists

A woman prays at a grave near the tomb of Imam Asim in the Taklamakan Desert outside the village of Jiya near Hotan, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

A woman walks through a derelict section of the old town in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 23, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

An ethnic Uighur man walks down the path leading to the tomb of Imam Asim in the Taklamakan Desert outside the village of Jiya near Hotan, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

An ethnic Uighur man looks on at the cemetery surrounding the tomb of Imam Asim in the Taklamakan Desert outside the village of Jiya near Hotan, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Men sit at the foot of a dune in the Taklamakan Desert outside the village of Jiya near Hotan, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter SEARCH "XINJIANG PETER" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

A man approaches a mosque to open it for evening prayer in the old town in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 23, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Flag-festooned poles stand over a grave in the cemetery surrounding the tomb of Imam Asim in the Taklamakan Desert outside the village of Jiya near Hotan, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Men negotiate over the price of sheep in the village of Jiya near Hotan, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

A man rests under a poster showing Chinese President Xi Jinping in the village of Jiya near Hotan, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

A child sleeps as a riot shield leans on a stall at the bazaar in Hotan, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

A man delivers a sheep to the mosque at the tomb of Imam Asim in the Taklamakan Desert outside the village of Jiya near Hotan, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Portraits of China's late Chairman Mao Zedong, Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin and German philosopher Karl Marx are displayed outside an antique shop in the old town in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

A police officer talks to men in a street in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 24, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

A man has his moustache trimmed by a street barber in the old town in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

A police officer checks the identity card of a man as security forces keep watch in a street in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 24, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Men install a CCTV camera in a shopping street in the old town of Kashgar, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 23, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

A woman looks at fabric in the bazaar in Hotan, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

The locked door of a neighbourhood mosque is seen in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 23, 2017. Many smaller neighbourhood mosques have been closed by the authorities in favour of larger more centralised places of worship, locals and an analyst said. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

A man stands in an alley in the old town in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 23, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

An ethnic Uighur man talks on the phone in front of the Id Kah Mosque in the old town of Kashgar, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

The locked door of a neighbourhood mosque is seen in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 24, 2017. Many smaller neighbourhood mosques have been closed by the authorities in favour of larger more centralised places of worship, locals and an analyst said. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

The locked door of a neighbourhood mosque is seen in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 23, 2017. Many smaller neighbourhood mosques have been closed by the authorities in favour of larger more centralised places of worship, locals and an analyst said. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

The locked door of a neighbourhood mosque is seen in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 24, 2017. Many smaller neighbourhood mosques have been closed by the authorities in favour of larger more centralised places of worship, locals and an analyst said. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Men watch as old buildings are torn down in Hotan, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

An ethnic Uighur woman stands in the door of a bakery in the old town of Kashgar, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

A man walks along a street at night in the old town of Kashgar, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 23, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

The locked door of a neighbourhood mosque is seen in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 23, 2017. Many smaller neighbourhood mosques have been closed by the authorities in favour of larger more centralised places of worship, locals and an analyst said. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

The locked door of a neighbourhood mosque is seen in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 23, 2017. Many smaller neighbourhood mosques have been closed by the authorities in favour of larger more centralised places of worship, locals and an analyst said. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

The locked door of a neighbourhood mosque is seen in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, March 23, 2017. Many smaller neighbourhood mosques have been closed by the authorities in favour of larger more centralised places of worship, locals and an analyst said. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Up Next

See Gallery

Discover More Like This

HIDE CAPTION

SHOW CAPTION

of

SEE ALL

BACK TO SLIDE

Tim Lindsey, a University of Melbourne expert on Indonesia's legal system, said it was not unprecedented for Indonesian judges to take a harder line than prosecutors.

Even so, Lindsey said, conservative clerics had clearly influenced the panel of judges.

"This is the complete victory for the hardliners."

Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch said the case would consolidate a literalist interpretation of Al Maidah that demands Muslims be led by other Muslims in all facets of life.

"This will spread to the workplace. They will be demanding Islamic CEOs and senior civil servants. Islamists are already talking about it."

While President Widodo displays outward calm, several government sources have told Reuters he believes the rising influence of Islamism has been fueled by political adversaries and is distracting him from reforms.

On Monday, Widodo's government announced a ban on Hizb ut-Tahrir, a non-violent group that advocates an Islamic caliphate and was an organizer of the anti-Purnama rallies.

Police, meanwhile, have arrested leaders of Islamic groups for treason. Rizieq is also under investigation for distributing pornography and blaspheming Christianity.